Intentions to Marry, 1906 Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840431, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1906 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay (1906a), Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1906b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1906c).

Page 189

District of Palmerston North Quarter ending 31 March 1906 Registrar Robt. W. Keeling

Date of Notice

Names and Surnames of Parties

BDM Match

Condition

Calling or Profession

Age

Dwelling Place

Length of Residence

Marriage Place

Folio

Consent

Date of Certificate

Officiating Minister

13 February 1906

Christopher Allen Alexander
Lillie Ellen Jane Frogridge

Bachelor
Spinster

Compositor

28
22

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

10 months
2 weeks

At the house of Charles Pike, Palmerston North

06/539

13 February 1906

Rev. Robt. McLeod, Presbyterian Minister

No	13
Date of Notice	13 February 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Christopher Allen Alexander	Lillie Ellen Jane Frogridge
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Compositor
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	10 months	2 weeks
Marriage Place	At the house of Charles Pike, Palmerston North
Folio	06/539
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robt. McLeod, Presbyterian Minister

14 February 1906

Frank Grove
Margaret Wall

Frank Grove
Margaret Wall
💍 1906/1948

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Dressmaker

27
27

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

3 days
10 years

At the house of Mark Wall, Palmerston North

06/543

14 February 1906

Rev. J. J. Mather, Methodist Minister, Palmerston North

No	14
Date of Notice	14 February 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Grove	Margaret Wall
	💍 1906/1948
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Dressmaker
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 days	10 years
Marriage Place	At the house of Mark Wall, Palmerston North
Folio	06/543
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Mather, Methodist Minister, Palmerston North

16 February 1906

William Frederick Custer
Karen Christine Emile Christensen

William Frederick Cutler
Karen Christine Emilie Christensen
💍 1906/1969

Bachelor
Spinster

Cream Receiver

28
26

Palmerston North
Tiritea

3 years
2 years

Emmanuel Congregational Church, Fitzherbert

06/540

16 February 1906

Rev. S. J. Baker, Congregational Minister, Palmerston North

No	15
Date of Notice	16 February 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Frederick Custer	Karen Christine Emile Christensen
BDM Match (94%)	William Frederick Cutler	Karen Christine Emilie Christensen
	💍 1906/1969
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cream Receiver
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Tiritea
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Emmanuel Congregational Church, Fitzherbert
Folio	06/540
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. J. Baker, Congregational Minister, Palmerston North

18 February 1906

Alfred Delisle Hardy Hammond
Leila Isabel Crook

Alfred de Lisle Hardy Hammond
Leila Isabel Crook
💍 1906/1958

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Officer

28
26

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

4 years
3 days

St. Peter's Church, Palmerston North

06/535

18 February 1906

Rev. H. W. Kleigend, Anglican Minister, Palmerston North

No	16
Date of Notice	18 February 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Delisle Hardy Hammond	Leila Isabel Crook
BDM Match (95%)	Alfred de Lisle Hardy Hammond	Leila Isabel Crook
	💍 1906/1958
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Officer
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	4 years	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church, Palmerston North
Folio	06/535
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. W. Kleigend, Anglican Minister, Palmerston North

1 March 1906

George Cookson
Sarah Anne Patton Cameron

George Cookson
Sarah Ann Patton Cameron
💍 1906/1952

Bachelor
Widow

Bricklayer
Housekeeper

34
45

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

2 years
1 year

Registrar's Office, Palmerston North

06/547

1 March 1906

Robt. W. Keeling, Registrar, Palmerston North

No	17
Date of Notice	1 March 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Cookson	Sarah Anne Patton Cameron
BDM Match (98%)	George Cookson	Sarah Ann Patton Cameron
	💍 1906/1952
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Bricklayer	Housekeeper
Age	34	45
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	2 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Palmerston North
Folio	06/547
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 March 1906
Officiating Minister	Robt. W. Keeling, Registrar, Palmerston North

3 March 1906

William Arthur Smith
Mary Margaret Sly

William Arthur Smith
Mary Margaret Sly
💍 1906/1947

Widower
Spinster

Farmer

34
35

Stoney Creek
Stoney Creek

3 days
4 months

All Saints Church, Palmerston North

06/534

3 March 1906

Rev. C. C. Harper, Anglican Minister, Palmerston North

No	18
Date of Notice	3 March 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Arthur Smith	Mary Margaret Sly
	💍 1906/1947
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	34	35
Dwelling Place	Stoney Creek	Stoney Creek
Length of Residence	3 days	4 months
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Palmerston North
Folio	06/534
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 March 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. C. Harper, Anglican Minister, Palmerston North

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

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What is an Intention to Marry?

The 1854 Marriage Act required Pakeha settlers (and later Maori) to register their intention to marry from 1855. The resulting Notices of intention to marry were sent by the district registrars to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and bound into large volumes, each containing a year of notices. These registers were eventually deposited with Archives New Zealand.

What information does an ItM record?

A typical Intention to Marry notice records:

the bride and groom's full names
occupation of the groom (and sometimes the bride)
their ages
district where the marriage would take place
how long they had resided in the district
Where the marriage would take place (eg, a specific church)
Who would officiate the marriage (eg, a minister)
The date of the notice and also a date when the certificate was issued. Marriages had to take place within 3 months, and usually occurred within a week or so of the certificate date.
If one of the parties was under 21, a parent who consented to their marriage was usually specified

These details can provide clues for genealogical and historical research. Knowing the date and district makes it easier to look for wedding notices in Papers Past, and the amount of time that the parties had resided in a district can offer clues to whether a person was born in NZ, or when they immigrated.

However, finding individual records in the Intentions to Marry registers was typically a slow and manual process, usually requiring an in-person visit to Archives NZ's Wellington office (during limited opening hours) and using a handwritten card catalogue index to look up individual names.

Eight years of the registers had been digitised by Archives NZ prior to 2024, but even these digital versions required the use of a manual index and usually examining several pages to locate specific records.

What is the Intentions to Marry Project?

This project aims to transcribe the New Zealand Intentions to Marry registers (from 1855 to 1925) with the assistance of new technology (AI), making the records freely available and easily searchable.

The ITM records have also been cross-referenced with the registered marriages at DIA Births, Deaths and Marriages, where possible (a small fraction of the recorded intentions to marry did not become a registered marriage).

Currently we have almost all records between 1855 and 1903. More registers are being added almost every week.

The project is led by Luke Howison, a web developer who made the free genealogical research search tool NZ Ancestor Search Helper and Archway-style Collections Search. There are also some wonderful volunteers assisting with digitising the registers.

Can I volunteer to help?

Yes, you can! You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

I am also looking for Wellington-based volunteers to help me digitise more years of the registers. I can provide lighting equipment and a 'clicker' (to trigger your phone's camera).

How is the transcription done?

There are several steps to digitising and transcribing the records:

Digitising the registers (taking clean, straight, high-quality photos)
Processing the digitised pages by straightening, cropping and sharpening the images
Transcribing each page with a combination of AI tools
Matching each ITM with a registered marriage when possible
Human verification of the transcribed information

The main LLM (AI) used are the Google Gemini Pro and Flash models, which have excellent 'Vision' capabilities, and a generous free tier.

Archives NZ has released the register years they have digitised (1865-69, 1872, 1874 and 1880) under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

The Intention to Marry registers (up to 1925) are more than 100 years old, so their Crown Copyright has expired, putting them in the public domain. This also applies to any 'mechanical reproductions' (eg, pictures or photocopies) of their content without substantial alteration.

The transcribed records on this website are released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license, which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes, while giving credit to the creator (NZ Intentions to Marry Project).